In May 1854, the judges of the Interior Court purchased 100 acres of land in what is now Hartwell and laid the property off into streets, squares, and lots. Officially incorporated as a city by the Georgia legislature on February 26th, 185, Hart is the county seat of Hart County. The city was named for Nancy Hart, a local heroine of the Revolutionary War who served as a spy and captured a group of Tories who threatened her home.